Nov. 26, 1965: France Begins Launch Legacy with Diamant

Washington
—


More than 40




years ago, France




became




the third nation to launch a satellite using its own rocket,




a first step toward




establishing itself as Europe’s expert in launch vehicles.

On Nov. 26, 1965, France launched the 45-kilogram Asterix 1 test satellite aboard




its Diamant rocket from the Hammaguir launch base in




�Algeria. The Diamant




was based on ballistic missile technology, similar to




�launch vehicles developed by the Soviet Union and the United States.

The Diamant grew out of the




�




�Gemstones program, which began in 1959




. Run by a state-owned research and development company




, SEREB,




�Gemstones consisted of five different designs




�one- and two-stage test launch vehicles, dubbed




Agate, Topaze, Emeraude, Rubis and Saphir.

In late 1960, SEREB sent the French armed forces minister a report stating that




“a craft able to place a satellite weighing 50 kilograms into Earth orbit is achievable,” according to the French space agency, CNES, Web site.

In May 1962, CNES, which had been founded only a year earlier,




signed an agreement with the military’s Ministerial Delegation for Armaments to develop an orbital launch vehicle – the Diamant.

With funding from CNES,




�the Ministerial Delegation for Armaments managed development of the launcher and satellite




, while SEREB served as




prime




�contractor, the CNES Web site said.

The first version of the rocket




, Diamant-A, was essentially a repackaging




�of the already-reliable two-stage Saphir rocket. Saphir had failed only twice in




�15 launch




attempts, according to the Encyclopedia Astronautix Web site. Using both of the Saphir’s two stages, SEREB




then replaced the




payload with a P064 third stage, which initially had been




tested on a Rubis test rocket.

The Diamant-A followed its first successful launch with three more launches, flying for the




final time




in February 1967

The next-generation rocket,




the




Diamant
-B, on which CNES served as




prime contractor,




used




different first




and third stages




�and achieved more thrust than its predecessor, according to the EncylopediaAstronautix and RussiaSpaceWeb. The first Diamant-B launched March 10, 1970, from the newly opened Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.




Of the f




ive Diamant-B rockets




launched, two




failed.




�The last Diamant-B launched




in December 1971




.

The final Diamant rocket, the Diamant-B P4, began development in 1972. But two years later, before the latest launch




vehicle had been completed, CNES canceled the program citing funding issues.




France




had committed to helping develop a pan-European launch vehicle – what would become Ariane – and could not fund both programs, the CNES Web site said.

However, CNES decided to go ahead with the already




scheduled manifest, and




the Diamant-B P4




successfully launched




�three times between February and September of 1975.

Ultimately, CNES’




experience in developing the Diamant led to its




selection




�by the European Space Agency as the prime contractor on the Ariane 1




�– Europe’s workhorse rocket. CNES based the technical design for Ariane on the Diamant, according to the CNES and NASA History Web sites.

Work on the Ariane 1 rocket, which was two-thirds funded by France, began in 1974. The Ariane 1 first launched




Dec. 24, 1979, from the Guiana Space Center.